Hodgson embarks on another Italian job

A 1-1 draw in London on Matchday 3 means AS Roma can propel themselves into the qualifying places in UEFA Europa Group E if Fulham FC fail to pick up a point on Roy Hodgson's return to Italy, where he enjoyed some fine years as a coach.

Previous meetings
• The teams had never met prior to Matchday 3. Roma's 13 home games against English side have left them with the record W7 D3 L3, while Fulham's only previous trip to Italy ended in a 2-2 draw at Bologna FC during the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Match background
• Roma have won their last six European home games since losing 2-1 to CFR 1907 Cluj in the opening match of last season's UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Fulham have lost just twice in ten away trips since making their European debut in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Team facts
• Despite impressive early season results in Europe, Luciano Spalletti quit as Roma coach after starting the Serie A campaign with back-to-back defeats and Claudio Ranieri was installed as his successor. The 57-year-old began his playing career as a defender at Roma – his hometown club – but earned his reputation as a coach with ACF Fiorentina, Valencia CF, Chelsea FC and Juventus, among others.

• While at Chelsea, from 18 September 2000 to 31 May 2004, Ranieri led his side in seven games against Fulham (six in the league and one in the FA Cup), earning the record W4 D3 L0.

• Vastly experienced Fulham trainer Roy Hodgson has coached the Swiss and Finnish national teams, and has plenty of experience of Italian football from two stints as FC Internazionale Milano coach in the mid-to-late 1990s and a later spell with Udinese Calcio.

• Hodgson's Inter took on Roma five times during his days in Serie A, winning three games, drawing one and losing the other. His Udinese side drew 1-1 with Roma in 2001.

• The two coaches came face-to-face six times during Hodgson's first spell at Inter, when Ranieri was coaching Fiorentina. The Viola drew 1-1 at home and won 2-1 at San Siro in the 1995/96 Serie A campaign and also knocked the Nerazzurri out of the Coppa Italia semi-finals that season, winning 3-1 in Florence and 1-0 in the second leg in Milan. The sides then drew twice the following season, meaning Ranieri has won three of his encounters with Hodgson, with three matches drawn.

• Roma's John Arne Riise is the older brother of Fulham's Bjørn Helge Riise, and said: "My brother and I are room-mates for Norway. Like every young player, he has a lot of tasks such as bringing the balls and dealing with the kit. In our room, we have a lot of competitions which I can't go into detail about, but for us it's 'competition time' again."

• Both Riises started on Matchday 3 becoming only the third set of brothers to have played against each other in European competition.

• Iceland's Johannes Edvaldsson (Celtic FC) and Atli Edvaldsson (Valur Reykjavík) met in the first round of the 1974/75 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Johannes scoring the opening goal of a 7-0 second-leg victory which secured a 9-0 aggregate triumph for the Glasgow side.

• Dutch siblings Ronald and Erwin Koeman were then on opposing sides in the 1988 UEFA Super Cup, Erwin's KV Mechelen overcoming Ronald's PSV Eindhoven 3-1 over two legs to claim a second Dutch scalp in succession having beaten AFC Ajax in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final.

• Fulham's Danny Murphy and Roma's Riise were team-mates at Liverpool FC from 2001 to 2004. Both were in the sides that drew 0-0 with the Giallorossi at the Stadio Olimpico and won 2-0 at Anfield in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League second group stage.

• Roma's Júlio Baptista also played in England, with Arsenal FC from 2006 to 2007.

• Fulham's Senegalese striker Diomansy Kamara plied his trade in Italy with another of Ranieri's old clubs, FC Catanzaro (1999-01), as well as AC Chievo Verona (2001) and Modena FC (2001-04).

• Fulham host PFC CSKA Sofia on Matchday 5, with Roma at home to FC Basel 1893 on the same day, 3 December.